RUSSIA: SUMMER CAMP TURNS INTO CENTRE FOR TREATMENT OF CHILDREN WITH MENTAL AND PHYSICAL DISABILITIES

Record ID: 277855

  • Title: RUSSIA: SUMMER CAMP TURNS INTO CENTRE FOR TREATMENT OF CHILDREN WITH MENTAL AND PHYSICAL DISABILITIES
  • Date: 6th August 2001
  • Summary: BALABANOVO, RUSSIA (RECENT - JUNE 30, 2001) (REUTERS) SLV SUMMER CAMP PREMISES; CHILDREN AROUND CAMP (6 SHOTS) SLV/MV CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES ON HORSES; SCU GIRL WITH CEREBRAL PALSY LYING ON HORSE; BOY IN GREEN T-SHIRT ON HORSE UTTERING "MAMA, MAMA"; DISABLED GIRL BY THE HORSE; DISABLED CHILDREN PLAYING WITH HEALTHY BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND PARENTS; ANDREI, A BOY IN ST
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: VILLAGE OF BALABANOVO, NEAR MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Health,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA1397BLFE1UYOP91PFJVA289J7
  • Story Text: In Russia, a summer camp has been turned into a centre for the treatment of children with mental and physical diabilities. The camp, funded and run by a Moscow medical charity, uses animals in its unique rehabilitation programme.
    The Balabanovo [ba-la-BA-no-vo] summer camp - 100 kilometres west of Moscow, looks like thousands of other similar recreational sites where Russians with modest family income choose to send their children for summer holidays.
    But in certain way Balabanovo camp is unique. The children who come to spend summer there are afflicted with various physical and mental disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy, Autism, birth defects and mental disabilities.
    The camp is the summer base for a rehabilitation programme called "The Sunny World" and developed by a group of Russian therapists and psychologists.
    The programme involves a set of activities aimed at restoring children's physical and mental abilities with therapeutic horse riding being the major element. Therapeutic riding is the combination of physical therapy and equestrian techniques designed to build strength, coordination, and most importantly, self-esteem.
    The centre currently has six especially trained horses.
    The programme is strictly timed to accommodate all the 42 children living in a camp. The sessions are held either on the camp premises or in the picturesque countryside sorrounding the camp.
    The disabled children come to the camp with their families. Creating a familiar friendly environment is one of the major elements of the programmed. The disabled kids interact with other children, with parents and instructors.
    The staff at the centre believe that this interaction creates a peaceful and tranquil environment which makes children feel safe and willing to develop new skills and abilities.
    Disorders like Cerebral Palsy cannot be cured completely but horse riding therapy coupled with different psychological support methods applied in the rehabilitation center has improved life of dozens of patients, says staff and parents.
    When three years ago Andrei joined the program he couldn't walk and was afraid to communicate with anyone except for his parents and his elder brother. He could hardly talk.
    When he was born nine years ago, doctors said he would be confined to wheelchair and advised the parents to place him in a sanatorium for life.
    "I thought life was over for me. I had to stop working, stop communicating with my friends. I had to change my whole way of life. And some doctors seriously advised me to get rid of him (Andrei)," said Andrei's mother Lena. The life of the family has changes since then. Andrei can now walk, talk and even learning to play the piano.
    In 99% of cases Cerebral Palsy develops either in the womb or at birth. Katya's case was an exception and belongs to the rare one per cent. She developed Cerebal Palsy after a near drowning accident, when she was just over a-year-old.
    As Katya grew older, it became clear that she will not be able to walk or talk and her condition worsened. Her parents tried various medical options and treatments but none had any effect on Katya's condition. But now at the age of 14, just two years after joining the programme, Katya's progress is evident - she can walk with some help, she tries talking and even started to learn a foreign language.
    Her language teacher, Anton, 24, is a graduate student at the Moscow Pedagogical Institute. Due to a a birth defect Anton has been wheelchair bound all his life.
    He says that until joining
    "The Sunny World" programme, he saw no light at the end of the tunnel and was suffering from severe bouts of depression.
    Nine years of physical and psychological rehabilitation were not easy but brought in results - he is about to become a professional teacher of English. His next plan is to get trained as simultaneous translator.
    "You feel accepted. You feel valued, appreciated, needed.
    And it's very important for an isolated person, because people with with special needs in this country have more than less opportunities to communicate, to socialize," says Anton.
    Horse riding therapy is not new to the world. Similar methods have been successfully applied in countries, where other well-established facilities are available to the disabled.
    But in Russia, centres like "The Sunny World" may be the only hope for people with disabilities.
    "The parents of our children live with fear that once their children grow up and they themselves get old and die, their children will get into a "nut house" as there is no other alternative. And in Russia this is indeed the case.
    That's why our task is to promote maximum development of a child, to make children capable of living within the society independently", says Igor Shpitsberg, head and author of the rehabilitation programme.
    About 200 children are currently attending the rehabilitation programme. Despite the fact that summer camp forms essential part of the programme, only half of the children will make it to Balabanovo this year. Being a non-profit organization, the centre cannot afford to take all the children out to the country.
    "Financially it is tough for us because the center operates on free of charge basis for parents with disabled children. We know that by far most of these families can hardly pay anything. Their social security is minimal, almost non-existent," said Shpitsberg.
    In Russia, the disabled are still among the most deprived groups in society. They struggle to survive on minimal state social security. And in big cities there are rarely any special facilities to care for their needs or which simply would allow them to use public transport in big cities.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register